1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a new plant extract rich in triterpenic constituents, a method of obtaining it, and various uses of this extract as a medicament in human and veterinary therapy.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The plants of the genus chrysanthellum (family Compositae) are tropical and equatorial plants of the savannah found in central Africa or South America. French patents Nos. 979M and 70/25,949 describe the aqueous and aqueous-alcoholic extracts, respectively, of chrysanthellum procumbens Rich and chrysanthellum americanum Vatke. French patent No. 74/22,371 describes powdered polyphenolic extracts obtained from plants of the genus chrysanthellum.
Plant extracts have been known to exhibit pharmacological activity depending upon the presence of particular constituents, especially triterpene or steroidal saponins. Thus, it was considered useful to investigate methods of preparing extracts of chrysanthellum and to test these extracts for pharmacological activity.